Ilan Ramón

Ilan Ramon (born Ilan Wolferman, June 20, 1954 – February 1, 2003) was a Colonel in the Israeli Air Force and a NASA astronaut.

Biography

Youth

Born in Ramat Gan, Israel, Ramon graduated from high school in 1972 and in 1987 earned a bachelor's degree in electronic and computer engineering from Tel Aviv University, Israel. Ilan Ramon graduated as a fighter pilot from the Israeli Air Force (IAF) Flight School. Immediately after graduation he fought in the Yom Kippur War in 1973 at just 19 years of age.

Military service and military life

From 1974 to 1976, Ramon participated in Basic Training and Operations in an A-4. From 1976-1980 he devoted his time to training and operations on the Mirage III-C.

In 1980, as a member of the IAF establishment team of the first F-16 Squadron, he attended the F-16 Training Course at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.

From 1981 to 1983, he served as Vice Commander of B Squadron for the F-16 Squadron. In this period he participated in the fighter-bomber squadron that destroyed the Osiraq nuclear reactor in Iraq in 1981, and in 1982 he participated in aerial combat missions in Lebanon, during Operation Peace for Galilee.

From 1983 to 1987 Ramón attended Tel Aviv University. From 1988 to 1990 he served as Vice Commander A for the F-4 Phantom Squadron. During 1990, he attended the Squadron Commanders Course. From 1990 to 1992 he served as a Squadron Commander for the F-16 Squadron.

Ascent

In the period of 1992-1994, he was director of the Division of the Department of Requirements Operations. In 1994, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel and assigned as Director of the Weapons Development and Acquisition Requirements Operations Department. He was in this position until 1998.

Colonel Ramon accumulated more than 3000 flight hours in the A-4, the Mirage III-C and more than 1000 flight hours in the F-16.

NASA Experience

Colonel Ramon was selected as the Cargo Specialist. He received training for a Space Shuttle mission with a payload that included a multispectral camera for recording aerosols in desert areas. In July 1998 he began training at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where he received training until 2003. He flew aboard mission STS-107 and logged 15 days, 22 hours, and 20 minutes in space.

Space flight experience

In the framework of Mission STS-107 Columbia (January 16, 2003 – February 1, 2003) he participated as a crew member, and during said mission, 16 days of duration; which was dedicated to scientific research to which it was assigned 24 hours a day in two alternating shifts, the crew successfully carried out nearly 80 experiments.

The mission ended in tragedy, when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry over the skies of the southwestern United States with only 16 minutes to go before landing. The cause of this tragedy originated on launch day, when a piece of insulating foam from the External Tank detached and damaged the underside of the Orbiter's left wing, tearing off some thermal protection tiles. On the day of reentry, the absence of these tiles caused the internal structure to overheat, causing the destabilization and consequent disintegration of the ship, killing its 7 crew members.

During the trip, Ilan Ramon carried as a memento a drawing of the young Czech Jew Petr Ginz, who has become a symbol of the Holocaust. Ilan Ramon died in the Columbia tragedy on February 1, 2003 over the southern United States, 16 minutes before landing, leaving behind a wife and four children. A memorial was dedicated to him at the site of the fall of the wreckage of the shuttle.

Acknowledgments

He was posthumously awarded the United States Congressional Space Medal of Honor and is officially recognized as a National Hero of Israel.